Thailand’s Deputy PM, Genting Express Concerns Over Foreigners-Only Casinos

Governments can’t ignore gambling

As world leaders are increasingly pushing gambling and crypto to the forefront of politics with the realization that regulated markets could bring in major revenue, Thailand’s recent move to make its future casinos inaccessible to most Thais has received instant criticism.

met with both internal and external concern

Despite a major win for Sino-Thai relations in a crackdown on Myanmar’s hellish scam centers last week, a new draft regulation for Thailand’s integrated resort casinos was met with both internal and external concern.

The draft circulated by Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government requires nationals to prove they have at least THB50m ($1.48m) in fixed deposits for at least six months in their bank accounts to enter the proposed IRCs. 

According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s Deputy PM and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said it would be hard for the draft to win the approval of the Thai cabinet because it didn’t address local illegal gambling. 

Genting Singapore, meanwhile, said Sunday night that it would be “difficult to commit” to entering the IRC market if locals were off the table. 

Potential investors paying attention

The Genting Group’s Singapore arm is, according to Inside Asian Gaming, the first Asian IRC operator to host an earnings call since Paetongtarn’s government released the IRC draft.

Genting Singapore told analysts on Sunday via a note from Japanese investment banking giant Nomura that “it will be difficult to commit to a high IR capex if the market size is reduced to mainly foreign-only visitors.”

Genting, which also owns and operates Resorts World Las Vegas, shares common ground with fellow US casino giants Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts in jockeying for a potential Thailand IRC license. 

An additional restriction in the IRC draft could give Genting and the other potential US investors further reason to reconsider their pitches, namely that the proposal demands the casino area of IRCs take up no more than 10% of the overall complex space.

Internal rifts amid regional wins

That the Thai Deputy PM has criticized the proposal to exclude the majority of locals from IRCs is, perhaps, inevitable given reports of a rift between Paentongtarn’s Pheu Thai Party and Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party. 

The Bhumjaithai Party is Pheu Thai’s largest partner in the coalition that came to power late last year. Anutin confirmed the foreigners-only stance on IRCs would be discussed at a cabinet meeting. 

The internal in-fighting comes, however, after Paentongtarn’s government made major breakthrough last week. The Thai PM’s government was instrumental in freeing over 7,000 workers from Myanmar’s scam call centers after political pressure from China.

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Man Flips Poker Tables at WSOPC Event Claiming God Told Him to Do It

A man has claimed God told him to go berserk at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina on Sunday.

According to media reports on Monday, the unnamed man flipped over three poker tables at the main $1,700 buy-in event in a field down to 65 players. A player at the event said the man was yelling that God told him to do it.

Las Vegas Locally posted a video to X showing the incident:

Multiple WSOPC winner David Moses posited his thoughts to X on how to keep the event going.

One option would be to “reconstruct stacks such that … everyone agrees that’s ballpark what they had AND the cameras confirm ballpark what they had.” Moses’ other suggestion was that the 65 entrants still in play “agree to an even chop.”

World Poker Tour Executive Tournament Director Matt Savage, however, said fixing the chaos would be a “long arduous process [requiring players’] honesty, patience, and assistance.” He described the incident as a “tournament directors biggest nightmare.”

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Man Loses Out on Jackpot Because He Had Previously Banned Himself From Casinos

When is a big casino win a loss? When you previously decided you shouldn’t be allowed to gamble.

Last weekend, a man had the afternoon of his dreams at Parx Casino in Bensalem, just northeast of Philadelphia, winning a $57,000 jackpot. The casino, though, refused to pay out because they discovered the patron was on Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion list.

In the Keystone State, people can self-exclude from one or all of fantasy sports, internet gambling, video gaming terminals (VGTs), and casinos. Bans from iGaming, VGTs, and casinos can be one year, five years, or lifetime, while fantasy sports self-exclusion periods range from one to 99 years. All are selectable by the person choosing to self-exclude.

those who violate the terms of the self-exclusion will have their winnings confiscated

State police say the jackpot winner was on the casino lifetime self-exclusion list. The law states that those who violate the terms of the self-exclusion will have their winnings confiscated, which was what happened in this case.

To make matters worse for the 46-year-old man, he was also issued a citation for criminal trespass.

A similar situation at MGM Grand Detroit made headlines last year, though the circumstances were slightly different. A 65-year-old woman named Denise Ezell sued the casino after she was denied a $127,000 progressive blackjack jackpot win from October 2023.

The casino said she had been banned eight years earlier for allegedly panhandling, though she claims she had simply had an argument at the casino with her cousin over money. She continued to visit the casino in the following years and claimed it was not until she won the jackpot that the casino said she was trespassing.

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Caesars Investing Nearly $1bn Into Its Eight Las Vegas Strip Properties

Belief in Vegas

One of America’s iconic casino and entertainment giants likes what it sees in the crystal ball for Las Vegas and is injecting $1bn into its properties as part of an aggressive long-term strategy.  

“very bullish” on the future of Vegas

Amid economic challenges and uncertainty, and President’s Trump’s first month in charge prompting trade actions that could shatter the global economy, news of Caesars Entertainment’s big spend reflects the firm’s confidence that it feels “very bullish” on the future of Vegas. 

The Reno-based behemoth has also put its money where its mouth is, with Caesars on course to spend $1bn on Vegas in the post-pandemic era.

The strategic modernization of all of Caesars’ eight Strip properties features upgrades on casino floors, rooms, leisure options, and even renovations to historic hotels. The biggest injection of funds has gone into Caesars’ flagship casino hotel.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal cited Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas Regional President Sean McBurney as stating work on refurbishing Caesars Palace started “right out of COVID.”

Jewels in the crown

Caesars’ major spending spree on the 58-year-old casino hotel post-COVID includes renovations to the Palace’s main entrance, casino dome, and hotel lobby.

McBurney added that Caesars Palace was unique in that it “plays in the luxury segment, but it’s approachable luxury.” He said that the property has “something for everyone,” borne out by the Aureus Lounge and Palace Court high-limit gaming rooms introducing catering for guests in the last six months.

McBurney also told the Review-Journal that a new poker room would open at Caesars Palace “before the World Series of Poker starts” in the late spring.

transformation of the Jubilee Tower at Bally’s into the Versailles Tower at Paris Las Vegas

Caesars is also excited about adding three new restaurants to the Flamingo as well as a $20m upgrade of its pool area. The $100m investment that witnessed the transformation of the Jubilee Tower at Bally’s into the Versailles Tower at Paris Las Vegas has been another win for Caesars with its balcony rooms overlooking the Strip.

“Repurposing the Bally’s tower to Versailles Tower has just been an absolute home run,” McBurney said

Sports the driver

Like many other gaming executives in Las Vegas, McBurney believes Sin City’s pivot to sports has been “incredible” for the US gambling capital and is driving casino players to invest in the future. 

“What sports has done is given all of us just such a great reason for our customers from across the country and around the world to come to Las Vegas.”

According to reports this week, the NFL liked Vegas’ hosting of last year’s football showpiece so much that it is targeting Sin City to host 2029’s Super Bowl LXIII.

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Palms Casino Launches Industry-Bucking 3:2 Payouts on All Blackjack Tables

Palms throws down gauntlet

The Palms Casino Resort has fired a shot across the bow of the Las Vegas gaming industry by changing its blackjack payouts to give bettors a better edge against the house.

including those on the main casino floor and in the six-table high-limit room

The off-Strip casino’s gambler-friendly change introduced on Valentine’s Day means Palms will pay patrons 3:2 on all its blackjack tables, including those on the main casino floor and in the six-table high-limit room.

Prior to Valentine’s, while some Palms blackjack tables offered 3:2 payouts, like is common across Strip casinos, other tables featured the house-favoring rate of 6:5.

Strategic move?

For patrons looking for increased value, 3:2 tables pay $15 on a $10 wager, while 6:5 tables only pay $12 on a $10 bet. 

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Palms Vice President of Gaming Scott Hager said the changes to blackjack payouts “reflects our dedication to providing top-tier table games and ensuring an exceptional experience” for casino goers.

Hager’s statement doesn’t directly reveal Palms’ strategy behind its move to 3:2. Player advocate and co-owner of VegasAdvantage.com John Mehaffey, however, believes the casino’s executive has acted on a competitive opportunity offered by a legacy left behind by the industry as it emerged from COVID. 

To bounce back from the pandemic, many casino operators raised table minimums and introduced house-friendly games like triple-zero roulette and, of course, 6:5 blackjack.

Mehaffy believes casinos like Palms are acting on customer pushback from the post-COVID price hike and have “found the price point where there was pain.”

better than having nobody in here”

“Maybe they’re walking some of that back in the name of value, because they realized we can’t make a profit at $5 but maybe if we get $5 players in here, we can get them up to $10 to $15 players, and that’s better than having nobody in here.”

Palms holds sway 

Palms’ aggressive move comes after a baptism by fire for the first Native American tribe to both own and operate a Vegas casino resort.

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians acquired the property from Station Casinos in 2021 for $650m despite it being shuttered because of the pandemic since March 2020. The property only reopened in April 2022. 

Then came the murders. Just three months after the Station deal, the tribe had to deal with a possible double murder-suicide in one of Palms’ hotels. Last year, sex worker Larissa Garcia was brutally murdered at the resort.

According to media reports, Palms stated the new 3:2 blackjack offering means the casino will not raise its table game minimums. 

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Rivers Casino Philadelphia Forced to Evacuate Guests After Early Morning Bomb Threat

Rivers Casino Philadelphia was the site of a bomb threat in the early hours of Thursday morning, with guests having to vacate the property at about 5:30am. Law enforcement detained two men in connection with the incident.

While the bomb squad was not needed, police are continuing to investigate the matter.

open for business as usual following the incident

Rivers Casino told local media that the brief evacuation was “out of an abundance of caution while police checked the building.” It didn’t take long for the authorities to clear the premises, and people were allowed to return. The facility is open for business as usual following the incident.

It has been an eventful start to the year for the casino. In January, the property’s operator revealed it fell victim to a cyberattack in November, which potentially exposed customer data.

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